210g True Reef Experiment

[FFKasee]

What do you think of when some one talks about a Reef? I think all of the fish from the passive Clowns and Firefish to the more aggressive Eels, Lionfish and Sharks and then of course their are all of the corals, invertebrates, rock and sand. More or less i think of a perfect Eco system in a delicate balance. With my 210 gallon Saltwater Fish tank I am going to try and replicate that to the best of my ability and also come up with easier ways to clean and propagate Saltwater aquariums, while also trying out new products like the Apex controller and LED lighting. If anyone would like to help with or donate any supplies or fish/invertebrates please PM me.

The Fish

When ever you go to a aquarium store to pick up a fish the first thing they ask is how big is your tank and what other fish are in their to see if they would be a good match, while most of the fish out their have documentation of their aggressive behavior to other fish. A great example of that is the Amphiprion ocellaris aka (False percula or Ocellaris Clownfish) and the Amphiprion percula aka (True percula Clownfish) if both of these are in the same tank they have a strong tendency to attack each other and or kill one in other. Unlike the more common fish their is little data about then like the Dendrochirus brachypterus aka (Fuzzy Dwarf Lionfish) Dendrochirus biocellatus aka (Fu Manchu Lionfish) and finally the Atelomycterus marmoratus aka (Coral Cat Shark). With the main principle of that a carnivores fish will eat anything that that can fit in their mouth. While most of the time that is true most carnivores fish are opportunistic feeds and will hunt on the weak and dieing fish. So if you keep you fish healthy and fast of course can you maintain a True Reef system. After a little research this is the preliminary list of fish that I plan on stalking my tank with.

6x Banggai Cardinalfish

2x B/W Ocell Clown

2x Ocellaris Clown

2x Fuzzy Dwarf Lionfish ^

2x Fu Manchu Lionfish ^

1x Coral Cat Shark ^

1x Snowflake Eel ^

4x Scissortail Damsel

6x Firefish

2x Bluespotted Goby

2x Diamond Goby

4x Bl Stripe Neon Goby

2x Tiger Jawfish

3x Blue Tangs

2x Yellow Belly Blue Tang

This is just the preliminary list and the only fish that will not change are the ones with the ^ next to their name, and those with the ^ next to their name will be the last fish added and are the more aggressive of the fish.

The Invertebrates

Were do i start, most invertebrates have been documented heavily and thoroughly so for the time being I will not be posting to much information about the Invertebrates but i will have the name and quantity that i put in my tank and how long they approximately live for, I will have a hand full of anemones and a large cleaner crew for both the algae and the sand.

Corals

Along with the Invertebrates, most corals are very well documented on not only how to make then grow and live but also how to manually propagate them. I will be listing and corals that I will have and how they do for the beginning but my main goal with the corals is to see with the combination of both the Apex and LED lighting can i simulate the Ocean close enough to make the corals spawn like they do in the ocean and if they do can you grow them up from a single cell to a whole colony. Their will also be ZERO fake corals everything in my tank from the sand to the fish will be alive.

The System

To start with I am using a basic system that will grow with my tank aka my wallet lol

Main Tank

210 Gallon Glass Oceanic tank with 2 overflows one in the Left corner and one in the Right Corner with a return nozzle coming out of both the overflow boxes Their is currently 75lbs of live rock and approximately 1-2 inches of sand covering the bottom. and 3 power head on the back wall. The tank is roughly 7ft long 2ft wide and 2ft tall

Sump

The sump is a 50 gallon tank with a 3 stage water brake. The water starts in the Right side and goes straight into the protein skimmer and back to the stage one area with the bio balls were it then goes into the live section were the Mangrove is and the cheto grass is along with some invertebrates. then the water flows into the final stage the were it runs though a filter sponge and then into the return pumps

* For the pumps size, protein skimmer size and lighting on both the sump and main tank will come

The tank just started to cycle 12/4/2011 I have add 3 fish and 3 crabs to see if they can live though the cycling period.

Fish

1x Banggai Cardinalfish

2x Firefish

Invertebrates

3x Blue leg hermitcrabs

Current Specific Gravity 1.026